He’d seen the way she’d been with him. He’d thought those uninhibited smiles she gave the king were ones she saved just for him.
What a fool he was.
“I don’t trust the king.” Sebastian’s voice was low, lower than what felt like normal for him. He cleared his throat. “I don’t trust the way he looks at you. Like you’re a challenge to be beaten or a conquest to be won.”
“Well, I am, aren’t I?”
Sebastian snapped his gaze to her. She faced him, crossing her arms over her chest and popping out a hip.
“The entire reason I’m here is to be a conquest for the king,” she continued. “He wins me, so we can get into those archives. But besides…I don’t think he’s like that. Nik has been nothing but kind to us so far.”
Sebastian ground his teeth.Nik. He hated when she used that name for the king.
It was familiar. It was close. It wasintimate.
“I know I’ve said this already,” he said quietly, “and I could never loathe my queen. My life is bound to hers, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But—” He stalked to Ciana, holding her gaze as he stared down at her. “But I despise that she’s making you do this.”
Ciana’s nostrils flared, eyes sparking. “She’s notmakingme do anything, Sebastian. You may refuse to believe it, but I am my own woman. Mariah asked me for a favor, and I said yes.”
“It was an unreasonable favor.”
“That isn’t for you to decide!” Ciana tossed her hands up, voice pitching higher. “What the fuck is the matter with you, anyway?”
Sebastian held her gaze, his chest heaving. His blood thrummed in his ears, heart hammering beneath his ribs.
Whatwasthe matter with him? Sure, he’d made it no secret that this whole situation they were in bothered him. But these feelings, this crawling anger beneath his skin, this burning possessive instinct he couldn’t seem to shake…
This wasn’t him. He was better than this.
He would be better than this.
Sebastian forced a deep inhale, swallowing down the humid air. His hands unclenched, muscles slowly relaxing, tension falling from him as he banished it from his body.
He again surveyed Ciana. She’d dusted gold across the apples of her cheeks, a splattering of shimmer mixing with her freckles. Her lips were painted a soft pink, eyes wide and watching him. She wore minimal jewelry, save for a small black and gold ring on her pinky…
Wait.
“Is that yoursautoire?” His question was soft, but the words were pointed. Ciana straightened, glancing at her hand with wide eyes.
She cleared her throat. “Yes.”
The ring she’d been gifted on her firstdebutante. A ring set withdeistair.
A ring that suppressed her magic.
He knew she’d been struggling to come to terms with her gift. But he never thought she’d go so far as to put that ring back on.
Sebastian gripped tight to his control to keep his voice steady. “Why?—”
“It’s none of your concern, Sebastian.” Sharpness flashed in her eyes. “I have a task. I can’t let anything get in the way.”
It was a gut punch—that she thought something as beautiful as her magic was a problem.
He wanted to push back. Wanted to tell her how wrong she was, how her magic was a strength, not a weakness. That she had nothing to be afraid of, that she could embrace every last piece of herself and be safe in doing so.
But he didn’t. Because now was not the time.
If there was one thing he’d learned about Ciana, it was that her decisions always had to be her own. After everything she’d been through, that was the least she deserved.
